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Johannesburg - Reeva Steenkamp's parents want Oscar Pistorius to stay behind bars, according to a letter tweeted by a reporter on Monday.
Reporter Karyn Maughan, who works for eNCA, tweeted that in a letter submitted to the parole board considering Pistorius' release, Steenkamp's parents said while they had forgiven Pistorius, being in jail for 10 months for "taking a life is simply not enough".
The letter reads: "We have forgiven Mr Pistorius even though he took the life of our precious daughter, Reeva. Our lives will never be the same as we live with the sadness of her death every day. Reeva had so much to offer this world and we were all robbed of her life when she was killed.
"As her family, we do not seek to avenge her death and we do not want Mr Pistorius to suffer; that will not bring her back to us. However a person found guilty of a crime must be held accountable for their actions.
"Statistics show that our society is under continuous attack from criminals and murderers. Incarceration of 10 months for taking a life is simply not enough. We fear that this will not send out the proper message and serve as the deterrent it should."
Earlier, eNCA reported that the correctional services department had confirmed it had recommended Pistorius be released on probation on August 21.
Reeva's uncle, Mike Steenkamp, told News24 on Monday: "Whatever has to be, has to be. The fact is, it can't stop us on our side with what we are doing... These are just my basic thoughts and mine alone, not the rest of the family."
On September 12 last year, Pistorius was acquitted of murder, but convicted of culpable homicide for shooting dead his model and law-graduate girlfriend Steenkamp in the early hours of February 14, 2013.
He fired four shots through the locked door of the toilet in his Pretoria home on Valentine's Day in 2013, apparently thinking she was an intruder.
On October 21, Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison for killing Steenkamp, and for three years - suspended for five - for discharging a firearm in a restaurant.
The appeal
Meanwhile, the State’s appeal against the former paralympic athlete's conviction will be heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal in November.
In August, a judge would determine the exact November date.
Before then, the record of Pistorius’s trial and the State's and defence’s heads of argument needed to be filed, court registrar Paul Myburgh told News24 on Monday.
In March this year, Judge Thokozile Masipa rejected the bid by Pistorious’s lawyers to stop the State from appealing her finding that Pistorius was guilty of culpable homicide. The State wants him convicted of the more serious charge of murder, which carries a heavier sentence.
Interpretation of the law
In December 2014, Masipa granted the State leave to appeal her culpable homicide conviction, saying it was based on her interpretation of the law. Appeals can be granted based on questions of law, not on the interpretation of the facts of the matter.
Masipa however dismissed the State’s application to appeal Pistorius’s 5-year-jail sentence.
